Directed by: Spike Lee
Starring: John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Jennifer Esposito, Spike Lee, Michael Badalucco, Mira Sorvino, Ben Gazzara, Anthony LaPaglia, Bebe Neuwirth, Michael Rispoli
Summer 1977 New York City was a time of cultural change, record heatwaves, rolling blackouts, the emerging punk scene, and the Son of Sam who was shooting people dead in their cars while sending taunting letters to New York Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin. Breslin provides the prologue and epilogue for Summer of Sam, stating New York is a city he loves and hates equally. After watching of Summer of Sam, it is not hard to see why Breslin felt that way.
Summer of Sam isn't just about the oppressive summer heat, but the heat put on the city's neighborhoods as Son of Sam claims victim after victim. Mob mentalities began to emerge and anyone who was different stood out as a suspect by paranoid groups of people who think they know more than the police. Director Spike Lee examines all of these moving parts in a vibrant film with a distinct sense of time, place, and ultimately temperature. Summer of Sam remains Lee's best film and one close to his heart.
We meet a group of people living in Brooklyn who are affected indirectly by the fear caused by the Son of Sam murders which reached their peak in July 1977. The New York Yankees are chasing the pennant and provide temporary respite to New Yorkers suffering through the murders and the record heat. Brownouts are common to conserve energy. We meet Vinny (Leguizamo), a womanizing hairdresser married to Dionna (Sorvino), a waitress at her father's restaurant who may suspect Vinny's infidelities but doesn't act on them. One night, Vinny is taking home Dionna's cousin and has sex with her in the car. He thinks he sees the killer accost his car, so he promises to go straight and be faithful to Dionna...until his next erection. Vinny cannot help but give in to his nature while Dionna lives in a fool's paradise.
Vinny's friend Richie (Brody) comes around the neighborhood sporting a punk hairdo and a phony British accent. He works as a dancer/prostitute at a local gay porn theater, but has a steady girlfriend (Esposito), who used to have a fling with Vinny. Neighborhood denizens think Richie is odd enough to be Son of Sam. We cut to scenes of David Berkowitz (Badalucco) in a filthy apartment full of trash and vermin tormented by visions of a dog telling him to kill. We know Richie isn't Son of Sam, but the characters don't know and despite Vinny's protestations, they grow so convinced they are ready to kill him. The mob continually needs Vinny's affirmations to allow them to move on Richie. Why do they Vinny to co-sign on their suspicions? In a way, they can be held blameless because if Richie's best friend agrees with them, then it makes their actions permissible.
Summer of Sam is a triumph in an atmosphere of guilt, violence, and sex. There was no AIDS yet to temper people's libidos and embrace monogamy. I wonder how a serial philanderer like Vinny would cope with the AIDS epidemic. Like in Summer of Sam, when he is frightened after a near-encounter with Berkowitz, he would make hollow pledges to change only to renege at the first opportunity. The only characters who remain true to themselves are Richie and Dionna, both of whom find themselves being betrayed by Vinny, but I'm sure later on will find it was a blessing in disguise.
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